A 3-year-old girl injured in a wrong-way crash on a Twin Cities freeway earlier this month has died.
Nevaeh Ripka was riding in a car driven by her father when a motorist going the wrong way on Interstate 694 in Oakdale slammed into their vehicle near Stillwater Boulevard in the early morning hours of June 1.
Nevaeh was taken to Gillette Children's Hospital in St. Paul, but died of her injuries on Friday, according to a post from her family on a CaringBridge site.
"Our little angel got her wings last night at 10:00," the posting read. "She is now in the arms of her daddy."
According to the State Patrol, the girl's father, Alexander Ripka, 32, was driving north on I-694 when the driver of a Toyota Corolla heading south in the northbound lanes hit Ripka's Pontiac Vibe head-on around 2:25 a.m.
Alexander Ripka, of Rice, Minn., was ejected from the Vibe and died at the scene. The Corolla driver, identified as William Alexander Flores-Zamora, 28, of St. Paul, was extricated from his vehicle and died shortly afterward, the patrol said.
A third driver involved in the wreck was not seriously hurt, the patrol said.
The Ripka family thanked everyone who offered prayers, commented on the CaringBridge site and donated to a GoFundMe.
